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ABOUT THE WHITE HOUSE * PRESIDENTS OUR PRESIDENTS about_presidents_georgewashington 1. George Washington about_presidents_johnadams 2. John Adams about_presidents_thomasjefferson 3. Thomas Jefferson about_presidents_jamesmadison 4. James Madison about_presidents_jamesmonroe 5. James Monroe about_presidents_johnquincyadams 6. John Quincy Adams about_presidents_andrewjackson 7. Andrew Jackson about_presidents_martinvanburen 8. Martin Van Buren about_presidents_williamhenryharrison 9. William Henry Harrison about_presidents_johntyler 10. John Tyler about_presidents_jamespolk 11. James K. Polk about_presidents_zacharytaylor 12. Zachary Taylor about_presidents_millardfillmore 13. Millard Fillmore about_presidents_franklinpierce 14. Franklin Pierce about_presidents_jamesbuchanan 15. James Buchanan about_presidents_abrahamlincoln 16. Abraham Lincoln about_presidents_andrewjohnson 17. Andrew Johnson about_presidents_ulyssessgrant 18. Ulysses S. Grant about_presidents_rutherfordbhayes 19. Rutherford B. Hayes about_presidents_jamesgarfield 20. James Garfield about_presidents_chesterarthur 21. Chester A. Arthur about_presidents_grovercleveland 22. Grover Cleveland about_presidents_benjaminharrison 23. Benjamin Harrison about_presidents_grovercleveland 24. Grover Cleveland about_presidents_williammckinley 25. William McKinley about_presidents_theodoreroosevelt 26. Theodore Roosevelt about_presidents_williamhowardtaft 27. William Howard Taft about_presidents_woodrowwilson 28. Woodrow Wilson about_presidents_warrenharding 29. Warren G. Harding about_presidents_calvincoolidge 30. Calvin Coolidge about_presidents_herberthoover 31. Herbert Hoover about_presidents_franklindroosevelt 32. Franklin D. Roosevelt about_presidents_harrystruman 33. Harry S. Truman about_presidents_dwightdeisenhower 34. Dwight D. Eisenhower about_presidents_johnfkennedy 35. John F. Kennedy about_presidents_lyndonjohnson 36. Lyndon B. Johnson about_presidents_richardnixon 37. Richard M. Nixon about_presidents_geraldford 38. Gerald R. Ford about_presidents_jimmycarter 39. James Carter about_presidents_ronaldreagan 40. Ronald Reagan about_presidents_georgehwbush 41. George H. W. Bush about_presidents_williamjclinton 42. William J. Clinton about_presidents_georgewbush 43. George W. Bush administration_president_obama 44. Barack Obama [ of Benjamin Harrison ] 23. BENJAMIN HARRISON 1889-1893 Nominated for President on the eighth ballot at the 1888 Republican Convention, Benjamin Harrison conducted one of the first "front-porch" campaigns, delivering short speeches to delegations that visited him in Indianapolis. As he was only 5 feet, 6 inches tall, Democrats called him "Little Ben"; Republicans replied that he was big enough to wear the hat of his grandfather, "Old Tippecanoe." Born in 1833 on a farm by the Ohio River below Cincinnati, Harrison attended Miami University in Ohio and read law in Cincinnati. He moved to Indianapolis, where he practiced law and campaigned for the Republican Party. He married Caroline Lavinia Scott in 1853. After the Civil War--he was Colonel of the 70th Volunteer Infantry--Harrison became a pillar of Indianapolis, enhancing his reputation as a brilliant lawyer. The Democrats defeated him for Governor of Indiana in 1876 by unfairly stigmatizing him as "Kid Gloves" Harrison. In the 1880's he served in the United States Senate, where he championed Indians. homesteaders, and Civil War veterans. In the Presidential election, Harrison received 100,000 fewer popular votes than Cleveland, but carried the Electoral College 233 to 168. Although Harrison had made no political bargains, his supporters had given innumerable pledges upon his behalf. When Boss Matt Quay of Pennsylvania heard that Harrison ascribed his narrow victory to Providence, Quay exclaimed that Harrison would never know "how close a number of men were compelled to approach... the penitentiary to make him President." Harrison was proud of the vigorous foreign policy which he helped shape. The first Pan American Congress met in Washington in 1889, establishing an information center which later became the Pan American Union. At the end of his administration Harrison submitted to the Senate a treaty to annex Hawaii; to his disappointment, President Cleveland later withdrew it. Substantial appropriation bills were signed by Harrison for internal improvements, naval expansion, and subsidies for steamship lines. For the first time except in war, Congress appropriated a billion dollars. When critics attacked "the billion-dollar Congress," Speaker Thomas B. Reed replied, "This is a billion-dollar country." President Harrison also signed the Sherman Anti-Trust Act "to protect trade and commerce against unlawful restraints and monopolies," the first Federal act attempting to regulate trusts. The most perplexing domestic problem Harrison faced was the tariff issue. The high tariff rates in effect had created a surplus of money in the Treasury. Low-tariff advocates argued that the surplus was hurting business. Republican leaders in Congress successfully met the challenge. Representative William McKinley and Senator Nelson W. Aldrich framed a still higher tariff bill; some rates were intentionally prohibitive. Harrison tried to make the tariff more acceptable by writing in reciprocity provisions. To cope with the Treasury surplus, the tariff was removed from imported raw sugar; sugar growers within the United States were given two cents a pound bounty on their production. Long before the end of the Harrison Administration, the Treasury surplus had evaporated, and prosperity seemed about to disappear as well. Congressional elections in 1890 went stingingly against the Republicans, and party leaders decided to abandon President Harrison although he had cooperated with Congress on party legislation. Nevertheless, his party renominated him in 1892, but he was defeated by Cleveland. After he left office, Harrison returned to Indianapolis, and married the widowed Mrs. Mary Dimmick in 1896. A dignified elder statesman, he died in 1901. MD5: 2a0fa6c08b8fcd29ceb9d4a3196d2169 Original URL: http://whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/benjaminharrison/